North Hills Officials Plan Second Meeting on Regional Economic Development Plans

The Ross Township Board of Commissioners named three Ross residents to the intergovernmental economic development committee being formed by the North Hills School Board, West View Borough Council and Ross Township Commission. 

Steve Korbel, Joan O'Brien and Shea McKinney were selected to represent Ross Township along with Commissioners David Mikec, Chris Eyster and Dan Kinross. 

The committee, still unnamed, will hold its second meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 in the North Hills School District administration center, 135 Sixth Avenue. The public is welcome to attend.

The group was formed by School Board President Edward Wielgus and is intended to find collaborative ways among the communities to better market Ross, West View and the North Hills School District to new homeowners and business owners. Its .  

At that meeting, officials talked about tackling projects such as developing an overall marketing message for the slice of North Hills within the school district boundaries.

Concerns about building vacancies along McKnight Road, the area's main business district, were also discussed.

Ross Township's appointments, made Monday night, came after a heated discussion among the commissioners regarding which officials would represent the township on the commitee. 

Commission Chairman Kinross originally appointed Commissioners Pete Ferraro and Lana Mazur to the commitee, but both withdrew their names after Commissioners Dan DeMarco and David Mikec expressed disappointment about not being selected. 

DeMarco and Mikec both attended the committee's first meeting in June. 

Questions were also raised about how the intergovernmental committee would work with the Ross Township Economic Development committee, also known as RED, which is made up largely of business owners in Ross Township. 

"It seems like we're spreading out too many people on too many different committees," said Commissioner Gerald O'Brien. "What is RED going to be doing that won't be in conflict?" 

DeMarco said he believed RED does good things for the community, but that its efforts were limited without funding. 

"I believe a bigger organization is what's necessary," DeMarco said.